Franken slams cyberbill over privacy protection

One of the Senate's strongest liberals slammed cybersecurity legislation set for a vote on Tuesday for failing to implement privacy protections.

"It is critical that, in deciding how to protect our information networks, we also continue to protect the fundamental privacy rights and civil liberties of Americans," Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., said in prepared remarks on the Senate floor Thursday. "Unfortunately, as it now stands, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act falls short."

Franken's position puts him in the company of a diverse group of senators that includes Rand Paul, R-Ky., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Privacy advocates in both parties, fueled by ideological opposition to the legislation, have found rare common ground in their battle to defeat it.

The bill would release companies from liability if they share personal information about their customers with the federal government. Advocates of the bill say that under its terms, companies should share only broad information about cybersecurity threats, and strip out personal customer information.

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However, if companies "accidentally" share something that violates their contract with customers, they are to be freed from civil liability. Critics of the legislation say that makes it more of a surveillance than a security bill.